Cult Following
by Twin Snakes
Summary: After being sold by the Courier to the Legion and mercy-killing Caesar, Arcade Gannon must carve his niche in the camp for the sake of his own life! If that wasn't bad enough, he is also being watched by the cold eyes of Vulpes Inculta...
1. Vilified

Chapter 1: Vilified.

"So…you thought you could get away with this?" Vulpes asked, his voice cold as steel.

"It was inevitable—Caesars' tumour was too far along and had spread to his spinal cord. There is no way I could operate. It was only by your hand that I was forced to do so…hence why…Caesar is no longer with us." Arcade was bound and on his knees as the monstrous Vulpes stalked around him, waiting for the opportunity to find a flaw in his testimony. Arcade was justifiably scared at this moment in time—so much so that his usual witticisms and snipes have deserted him.

"Caesar died at your hands, so why should I not punish you? After all, 'an eye for an eye' is our motto around here…" He brandished a rusted Ripper knife at the frightened doctors' face and advanced perilously towards his left eye. Arcade instinctively clamped his eyes shut and held his breath. He hated the Legion, sure, but anything was better than this. He had to bite the bullet once and for all.

"If you let me live, I swear I can help you!" He gasped, imagining the sharp pain of his eye being gouged out. Vulpes threw the knife away and brought his face down to Arcades'.

"Help me? After what you did to Caesar?" He spat—both literally and figuratively.

"I had to do it, as my honour as a doctor, I had to let him go under anaesthetic. You may not want to hear this, but he was literally dying." Arcade had to change tack quickly as he was treading on dangerous grounds mentioning Caesars' weakness "Caesar was extremely strong to endure what he had, most others would not have even come close to what he had survived."

"Our Lord was in great pains, yes, but how is this relevant to what befalls you now?" Vulpes had stopped pacing at least—that was a good start in Arcades' book.

"I can help the Legion because I have advanced knowledge in medicine! If I go…what will happen to the injured and the sick?"

" They die. It is penalty for weakness."

"Injury in battle, maybe, but what about illness? Sometimes it is inevitable. Radiation poisoning, fevers…cancer. It happens to some of us. Even the Legion."

Vulpes' eyes narrowed into vicious slits.

"Like I said, they die. Our soldiers wouldn't have it any other way."

"But when they go, who will fill your ranks?"

"The prisoners we snatch from Tribes, of course."

"Let's say a plague hits the Legion camp. It spreads quickly and you have no doctors around and soldiers are dying. Who will fill your army then? You can't go battle a tribe of over a hundred warriors with so little men."

Vulpes pondered this scenario for a moment as Arcade eagerly awaited his answer. If this fails, he thought, I might as well kiss my ass goodbye.

"You could heal each and every one of those men?" Vulpes finally said.

"Maybe not all…but I would be able to identify the disease, treat most of them and try to find a way of preventing it from happening again. If you save the soldiers, you save time on training new ones. Your armies would literally swell to epic proportions, like the armies of old Rome."

"I can why Caesar chose you as his philosophical sparring partner…you have a certain way with words." He cut Arcade free and hoisted him up "So be it. You shall be reinstated as camp medic."

"It would be an honour." _Yeah right_, he thought grimly, _it's an honour to serve you twisted fucks!_

"And as for medicine…I don't care what you use, but make sure they don't get addicted to anything."

"I will require medical tools too." Arcade was pleased to be giving some orders.

"A search party will be sent forth to scour the Mojave tomorrow."


	2. Merciful Thug

Chapter 2: Merciful Thug

"These are your patients. I suggest you get to work straight away, profligate." Vulpes showed Arcade into a long tent sparsely-filled with injured and sick Legionnaires. The stench was unbearable.

As the young doctor walked through the narrow gaps between the patients, cries of 'Degenerate' and promises of slow torture were cat-called around the sick bay. He chose to ignore them, even when they systematically described what they would do to his mother if they ever caught her. If he was to survive, he had to just get on with it, despite the burning humiliation and anger within him. Arcade Gannon wasn't a people-person at the best of times.

He approached a soldier who was bleeding profusely from a slit in his thigh.

"I shouldn't even be here. I should have dealt with it like the others."

_Aha. That's why there's barely anyone here—they're too ashamed to accept medical help._

Arc tentatively examined the wound, as the soldier grimaced and sucked his teeth.

_Looks to be a knife-wound. Stitches and antiseptic should fix that right up._

After treating him, the doctor moved on to the next patient within ten minutes. Vulpes was suitably impressed.


	3. Neutral

Chapter 3: Accepted

Vulpes reached around and grasped Arc's dick between his firm hands, rubbing slowly to get it aroused. He lowered himself slowly onto his dick and bit his lip with pain as he rode him with increasing pace. Arc held the other mans' hips and pushed himself in deeper, with hesitant force so as to not push it too far with the feral Legionnaire.

_I might as well go at it—I'll probably end up on a cross for this anyway._

Arcade raised himself up and pushed Vulpes' back onto the bedding; turning the tables against his Superior. He picked up the speed of his thrusts and went deeper and deeper until he couldn't go any further. Vulpes, to halt his own cries of pleasure and pain, nipped the neck of his dominator and dug his sharp nails into his back.

_God, it's like fucking a wild mongrel! Memo to self: put some antiseptic on these bites and get a fucking Tetanus shot!_

Vulpes willed him to go harder by tugging on his golden hair and moaning softly in his ear. He readily complied, grabbing Vulpes' torso and pushing himself as hard and as fast as he can.

The Frumentarii never made any true sound (as any true spy would) but Arc could blurrily see that he was saying someone's name under his breath.

_What's he saying? Oh God, it'd be weird if he were saying 'Caesar'!_

A cold shudder went through Arcs' body, but he quickly shrugged it off and focused his attention on the man below him. He could feel his energy levels depleting and his muscles tightening. Vulpes seemed to read his mind and reached down to his own throbbing dick to finish himself off, as Arcade was nearing climax. It was the image of Vulpes biting his lip once more as he released himself that pushed the doctor over the edge.

Arcs' muscles tensed and relaxed as he came into the asshole of Vulpes Inculta. They panted softly and gazed at each other as Arc pulled out.

"You say a word to anyone and you die slowly and painfully." Vulpes growled, standing up and straightening his armour. He left the tent within the blink of an eye.

Arcade was justifiably shocked at what had just transpired in the hot, Mojave night.


	4. Liked

Chapter 4: Liked

[Two days on…]

Business resumed as usual for Arcade; no more nightly visits, but at least he wasn't gracing the arms of a telegraph pole. Yet.

_What if Vulpes thinks I've told anyone? I can't trust half the people here as it is…they might be plotting to get rid of me! No, c'mon Arc, we can't keep thinking like this, it's not healthy._

He washed his bloody hands in the small, tin basin and gave the soldier a sedative. He grimaced at the deep gouges across the young mans' front.

_When will they stop taking on Deathclaws?_

Arc left the tent, sweltering in the wasteland heat, and went to cool off in the clear waters surrounding Cottonwood Cove. The sky was turning a dusky pink and the torches were being lit around the camp, so Arc knew he would not be disturbed.

He slid off his lab coat (but kept his Legion armour on) and plunged his arms into the refreshing water, then splashed some onto his face. His glasses slipped and fell in and he cursed under his breath.

_Dammit! My depth-perception sucks! Hold on, I think I—no, not even close…let me, no, too far left…_

A hand retrieved the glasses that were floating off. Arc gratefully grabbed them and put them back on.

"You should be more careful in future." It was Vulpes who leaned into the water to get his glasses back. Arc was more than a little perturbed by his act of kindness.

"Uh, thank you, Vulpes." The two men seemed to stare off into the distance over each others' shoulders.

_Wow…this is awkward. _

"About the other night…"

"It was uh, nothing. In fact, I don't remember a thing! So I can't, y'know, tell anyone…"

"I wasn't finished, doctor. I was going to say that the other night was good. I don't normally reach climax that fast."

"So…I'm not gonna die for this?"

"No. You are of great use to us; word is that you are quite respected around these parts."

"That's good to hear. Well, uh, I guess I better be going then…" Arc picked up his coat from the bank and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"Come to my tent at eleven." Vulpes walked away as soft and silent as a cat padding across the sand.


End file.
